Ford hopes 2006 Zephyr is a fresh breeze

The reason Ford Motor Co. is going to offer a small, entry-level luxury sedan for ’06 is simple: It wants to stop the migration into foreign cars.

“Every year 50,000 consumers leave the domestics for an entry-level luxury model from the Asians or Europeans,” said Jim Padilla, executive vice president of Ford.

“With Zephyr, we hope to get some of those 50,000 to stay as well as some of those in Asian or European cars to move over,” he said in an interview at the unveiling of the ’06 Lincoln Zephyr.

Padilla said Ford has wanted to add such a car to the Lincoln fold for years. It now can do so inexpensively by having Zephyr share a platform with the Mazda6 sedan.

In keeping with the luxury theme, Zephyr will be decked out with leather, wood and chrome trim and a navigation system.